"The Feast of the Gods" (see details) (see related A | B), c. 1514 Giovanni Bellini (1427-1516) National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C., USA

One of three paintings by Tiziano Vicellio (Titian) commissioned in 1523 for the Duke of Ferrara, Alfonso de Este. For centuries, aristocrats and kings preserved these three works. In contrast stand modern political dictators and plutocrats who destroy art-works they dislike - unable to contain their brute impulses, they stand as proof that power and money per-se do not civilize.